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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22353805">loud and clear</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/jilliancares/pseuds/jilliancares'>jilliancares</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Voltron: Legendary Defender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Coming Out, First Time, Getting Together, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Mind Link, Mind Meld, Oral Sex, Telepathy, but it isn't like dramatic or anything neither of them are mad about it, in January, just a forewarning lance does have sex with an alien girl before he and keith are together, so merry christmas!!!!!, technically this is a christmas gift</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 08:22:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>15,556</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22353805</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/jilliancares/pseuds/jilliancares</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Lance sits up, staring across the room in horror. Keith is already doing the same, his mouth agape. No fucking way, Lance thinks, and Keith makes this weak, wounded sound.</p>
<p><i>Oh no,</i> Keith thinks, in Lance’s own mind.</p>
<p>--</p>
<p>In which Lance and Keith accidentally end up mind-linked, which starts off completely horrific and somehow becomes... not so horrific.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Keith/Lance (Voltron)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>157</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2013</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>loud and clear</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hey everyone!!! this is a VERY LATE christmas present for the loml, haley!! you can find haley kicking ass and taking names on twitter @fandomkynz. ALSO, i would just like to say that this idea was very much inspired by the wonderful @hiuythn here on ao3!!! you might (and SHOULD) recognize the name "there, nestled against his pulse" which means you might recognize the sequel, "this is what love looks like:" in which case yes, that is what inspired this fic. however, if you live under a rock and have yet to read those two fics: go do yourself a MIGHTY favor and devour them immediately. you're welcome.</p>
<p>anyway, i hope you enjoy!!! please kudos and comment and all that shnaz ♡</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lance thought he was done with life-changing developments. There was just something about abandoning life on Earth and joining up with an intergalactic rebellion that made you think, <em>yup, it doesn’t get any weirder than this.</em></p>
<p>It’s just — most people wouldn’t think that a bigger change <em>could</em> happen. Stuff like going to class, taking tests, and staying up late while scrolling on your phone are astronomically different from things like flying robot lions, diving in front of a laser to save a friend, and staying up late because closing your eyes makes you see things you’re tired of seeing.</p>
<p>And, okay, maybe what’s happening isn’t <em>as</em> extreme as all that, but it certainly feels like it. To Lance, at least.</p>
<p>(And Keith).</p>
<p>It starts like this:</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The planet they’re on is called Yule’thra. They’re here completely unexpectedly, thanks to the fact that nobody even knew this place existed. The entire planet is surrounded by this thick layer of space-fog, manufactured entirely by its citizens. Not a single book in the Castle’s library mentions the people of Yule’thra, and not even Coran’s maps indicate a planet such as theirs existing where it does.</p>
<p>Still, they’re confident the Galra have never heard of them either. And Voltron never would’ve found out about them if the Yule’thra hadn’t contacted them themselves.</p>
<p>They’re a telepathic people — they have slits for eyes and no mouths at all, which concerns Lance on many levels (like, how do they eat things?!). They project their thoughts in order to communicate, which was super creepy at first, only then Lance felt bad for thinking that, because they’d probably heard it.</p>
<p>Anyway, the Yule’tharians decided to finally come out of hiding. Apparently, they’ve been keeping up with the war from afar, and they think they can cause a real difference for the Coalition, now that Voltron has pretty much turned the tide. They want to help.</p>
<p>Voltron’s only really here to tell them how they’ll be able to do so and connect with their radio systems so they’ll be able to communicate from wherever they are in the universe. It’s probably the easiest mission they’ve ever done. There should be absolutely no possible way to mess it up.</p>
<p>“Step on my shoe one more goddamn time, Keith!” Lance hisses, whipping his head over his shoulder to glare at the perpetrator.</p>
<p>“It wasn’t on purpose!” Keith returns, except it absolutely <em>was</em>. They’re always going out of their way to annoy one another. They work great together on the battlefield, because they’re soldiers and they’re skilled at what they do, but anytime else they’re occupied with stuff like this. Hunk once called it ‘pulling pigtails,’ and Lance ignored him for three whole days after that. This isn’t some sort of schoolyard crush type of deal. It’s just — Lance isn’t even… He doesn’t even like guys.</p>
<p>“Can you two knock it off?” Shiro says, a step in front of Lance, and Lance opens his mouth to say he’s not even doing anything when—</p>
<p>“I’m not even doing anything!” Keith snaps, and Lance practically growls, spinning around to give Keith a piece of his mind. That is, if ‘a piece of his mind’ means the same thing as ‘a fist to the face.’</p>
<p>Allura catches Lance’s arm and glares daggers straight into his soul. Lance grins sheepishly and lowers his arm back to his side.</p>
<p><em>Ah, you’ve arrived,</em> a voice says in all of their heads. Most of them flinch. And then they perfectly imitate professionalism, falling into line and smiling at the foreign dignitary. <em>You’re right on time — please, follow me.</em></p>
<p>The next chamber is large and unfamiliar to them, a giant statue of one of their people standing at the center of the room. They’ve spent the majority of their time on Yule’thra in their rooms and in the council chamber, but Yule’thra’s official joining of the Coalition is open to the public as a ceremony. People already fill the chamber, their murmurs echoing around the room as they make their way down the aisle, towards the Queen.</p>
<p>The ceremony is neither quick nor painless. It drags on with speeches and symbolic gestures while they stand there at attention. By the time it finally ends and festivities are under way, Lance is exhausted. The table of appetizers looks particularly tantalizing.</p>
<p>They split up like they usually do, going about the room and allowing themselves to be wrapped up in conversations with different people, making a good face for Voltron. But as more time passes, their composure deteriorates. Keith and Pidge are the first to sneak off, no doubt hiding where they can’t be forced to socialize any longer. Hunk, too, disappears, though that’s less likely because of an aversion to social interaction. No, he probably got dragged off by some dignitary to see some sort of art or architecture or technology — he’s always too polite to say no.</p>
<p>Shiro and Allura continue to make their rounds, always the ones to last the longest. And Lance, well—</p>
<p><em>You’re incredibly brave,</em> she says in his head, and it feels different when the voice is just for him, instead of being projected to everyone in the vicinity.</p>
<p>Lance laughs, low and in her ear. They’re leaning against a pillar at the side of the room, and he has no idea how this would even work — like, she doesn’t even have a mouth — but simple challenges of biology haven’t stopped him before.</p>
<p>“We haven’t even done anything for Yule’thra yet,” he says. The accent trips him up, and she giggles in his head.</p>
<p>
  <em>We’ve heard all about the things you’ve done.</em>
</p>
<p>“Yeah? Did you know, one time—"</p>
<p><em>Let’s get out of here,</em> she interrupts.</p>
<p>Lance’s eyes widen. Okay, like — sure, he talks a big game, but it usually <em>is</em> just talk. And even when it’s not just talk, it’s usually him who makes that suggestion.</p>
<p>“Yeah, alright,” Lance says anyway, and she grabs his hand and leads him away and Lance really hopes this isn’t a trap, because he’s definitely been tricked like this before and he’s bad at learning this particular lesson. The benefits <em>so</em> outweigh the costs.</p>
<p>She leads him down a hall and into a room on the side. She must know her way around, or be one of the actual important people at this event, because she laughs lightly in his mind as he stares. There’s this pulsing light at the center of the room, some kind of forcefield looking thing, and he’s enraptured.</p>
<p><em>That’s the Enragna, </em>she says.<em> It’s sacred to our people. It took many moons for it to be transported here, under the rule of our first queen.</em></p>
<p>Lance gapes. “And you guys just keep it in some random room? And you want to… I mean. In <em>this</em> room?”</p>
<p>She laughs again. Lance wishes he could remember her name. Come to think of it, he’s not quite sure she introduced herself.</p>
<p>
  <em>Relax, she says. No one ever comes in here. That’s why we’re safe.</em>
</p>
<p>With that, she wraps her arms around Lance’s neck and tugs him towards a pillar — they’re everywhere, in this building. She doesn’t have a mouth, so Lance starts kissing her neck, and he can hear her sighs — <em>feel her pleasure</em> — in his mind. Holy shit, this is gonna be intense.</p>
<p>She has her hands up his shirt — thank God they’re wearing formal wear instead of their armor — and her fingers splay over his stomach. Lance is just about to pick her up and press her against the pillar — that gets him some <em>serious</em> points every time — when they’re interrupted.</p>
<p>“Lance, are you serious right now?”</p>
<p>They break apart. Lance can feel her embarrassment in his mind as she flattens a hand down her shirt, even though Lance has yet to touch it.</p>
<p>“What the fuck, dude,” Lance says, glaring at Keith where he stands in the doorway. Of fucking <em>course</em> he’d be the one to interrupt the first bit of action Lance has managed to get in <em>weeks</em>.</p>
<p>“You know this isn’t what we meant by diplomatic relations, right?”</p>
<p><em>Um. I’m going to go,</em> she says, glancing at Lance fleetingly before walking briskly past Keith. The door echoes as it shuts behind her.</p>
<p>“You are the biggest cockblock I’ve ever met,” Lance finally says, glaring at his teammate. Keith’s arms are crossed. He doesn’t look apologetic at all.</p>
<p>“Oh, like you haven’t been tricked in that exact same way before.”</p>
<p>“She wasn’t tricking me!” Lance yells, and Keith scoffs, and that sound drives Lance over the edge. He rushes forward, fist raised, but Keith’s the one with close-combat experience — Lance does all his fighting from afar.</p>
<p>Keith dodges to the side and strikes once Lance has barreled past him. They end up on the floor, blocking punches and grabbing wrists, twisting arms and rolling over each other, trying to come out on top. That’s how it happens.</p>
<p>They roll right into the forcefield. They don’t even notice it at first, because the light didn’t offer any kind of resistance to them. No, it’s just one moment they’re bathed in normal light, and the next, everything is blue. It feels slightly warmer, and Lance’s hair stands on end — as if the next thing he touches will give him a static shock.</p>
<p>“Wait, wait, wait — stop,” Lance says, panting, and Keith laughs incredulously from above him.</p>
<p>“Oh, <em>now</em> you want to stop,” he says, but Lance shoves him off.</p>
<p>“We’re in the Enragna,” he says, panicking. The rest of the room looks distorted from in here.</p>
<p>“The what?” Keith says, and then he actually looks around, taking a moment to realize where they are. “Shit, that blue thing.”</p>
<p>“This is like, sacred to their culture,” Lance says anxiously.</p>
<p>“And you were gonna fuck in front of it?”</p>
<p>“Shut up! Just — let’s get out of here.”</p>
<p>Keith has no argument for that, and the two of them hurry towards the edge, eager to be out of the weird light-force-field. Lance is honestly expecting for it to have turned solid now that they’re inside it, just knowing his luck, but just like going in, there’s no resistance going out. He breathes a sigh of relief as he and Keith both make it out of the thing safely.</p>
<p>“We can’t let anyone know we touched that,” Lance says fervently. “It’s — actually, I don’t know what it does. But it’s definitely sacred!”</p>
<p>“Come on,” Keith says, taking a step towards the door and reaching towards Lance, as if to grab his arm and pull him with him. But the second his fingers brush Lance’s sleeve, something like electricity runs through Lance’s veins. They’re both blown backwards, Lance sliding along the floor until his head hits a pillar.</p>
<p>“Ow,” he groans, laying there in defeat.</p>
<p>
  <em>Ugh.</em>
</p>
<p>Lance blinks. Looks to the door, in search or whoever just said that. Because he didn’t think it, and the only people that can project their thoughts like that are the—</p>
<p>
  <em>Hurts — can’t. Said. Lance?!</em>
</p>
<p>Lance sits up, staring across the room in horror. Keith is already doing the same, his mouth agape. No fucking way, Lance thinks, and Keith makes this weak, wounded sound.</p>
<p><em>Oh no,</em> Keith thinks, in Lance’s own mind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>To be clear, Lance doesn’t hate Keith. Maybe he had a bit, at first — mostly because Keith hadn’t remembered him. But nowadays, that’s not true at all. Sure, Keith is his rival. And they definitely argue a lot, that can’t be helped. But they’re also teammates. Friends. They tease each other and they roll their eyes in commiseration when Pidge starts going on about some tech none of them can understand and they save each other from certain death in battle. They’re not enemies.</p>
<p>But knowing that Keith is <em>in his head</em>, that he can <em>hear his thoughts, </em>all Lance can think is<em>, I hate you I hate you I hate you get out of my head get OUT.</em></p>
<p>He just. <em>Really</em> doesn’t need anybody hearing his thoughts.</p>
<p><em>Asshole — can’t — ridiculous — like him,</em> Keith says in his mind. Complete thoughts obviously aren’t making it through, but that doesn’t necessarily make this any better. Definitely panicking now, Lance lets out a garbled yell.</p>
<p>“We have to fix this!” he says, now on his feet and unable to stop his pacing. Keith stands still and stoic before him, his arms crossed and his hair falling in his eyes, which are—</p>
<p>Lance shakes his head.</p>
<p>“Maybe Coran can do something,” Keith suggests, and Lance shoves shaking hands into his pockets. Tightens them into fists.</p>
<p>“But then we’ll have to tell him,” he says. “And everyone’ll know that we touched the Enragna.”</p>
<p>“Then what do you suggest we do?!” Keith demands. “It’s either tell everyone or deal with each other in our own heads! You really want that?”</p>
<p>Keith can feel how much Lance doesn’t want that — would probably be able to even if Lance weren’t projecting his thoughts — so they slink out of the room in search of Allura. God, it’s just — Lance has never been so aware of Keith. He thinks about him, of course he does, because you can’t just <em>not</em> think about the people that you interact with every single day. But he’s never been so wholly <em>aware</em> of him. It’s like he can feel Keith’s presence up against his mind.</p>
<p><em>Allura</em>, Keith’s mind says. <em>Think. Lance. Hurry.</em></p>
<p>His thoughts feel just a fraction louder than Lance’s. Like normal thoughts, but slightly to the left. Just barely noticeably <em>off</em>. Foreign.</p>
<p>“Oh, thank God,” Lance says aloud. They manage to find their way back to the main hall, and Allura’s in clear view — in fact, there’s a crowd around her.</p>
<p>
  <em>Oh fuck.</em>
</p>
<p>“Right back at ya,” Lance mutters. The Yule’tharians are shouting, surrounding Allura as they demand something. Shiro, Hunk, and Pidge are by her side, yelling back at the crowd and obviously trying to calm them down.</p>
<p>“Please!” Allura says. “They didn’t do it on purpose!”</p>
<p>“They know,” Lance bemoans.</p>
<p>“Quiet!” the Queen shouts, and miraculously, the crowd falls silent. “Voltron is our ally. It’s clear to me that the Green and Yellow Paladins didn’t intend to destroy the honorary statue.” Finally, Lance notices the rubble covering the floor, along with the missing statue from before. How in the world Hunk and Pidge managed to destroy that thing, Lance doesn’t even want to know. “Besides, it’s not like they befouled the sacred Enragna!” the Queen jokes, and her people laugh.</p>
<p><em>No one can know,</em> Keith thinks, loud and clear, and Lance finds himself nodding hastily in agreement.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Getting used to having Keith in his head is… a challenge. One not made any easier by the fact that their new telepathic link is entirely a secret. Neither of them have been able to figure out how to really control it, meaning their thoughts are shared seemingly at random. Sometimes Lance will try to think something at Keith, only for Keith to never get the message. And other times, when all Lance wants is for Keith to stay out of his head, his thoughts will be projected completely clearly.</p>
<p>It’s beyond annoying.</p>
<p>It’s gotten to the point where Lance has even raided the Castle’s library, but none of the books he’s read have very solid advice. Lance just can’t get a handle on this new mind-link thing, especially not when Keith’s thoughts are constantly slipping into his head, equally as frustrated as his own.</p>
<p>Of course, neither of them even have the luxury of regarding this mind-link as their biggest problem. They still have actual duties to attend to, meaning that when they’re going on missions for the Coalition or fighting the Galra in their lions, they’re dealing with two problems rather than one.</p>
<p>Lance might just go crazy if he never gets Keith out of his head.</p>
<p>It’s kind of been all he can think about, really. This happens, sometimes. His thoughts just get caught on something, like when you find a thread on your pants and start pulling and pulling and it never stops.</p>
<p>Lance is tapping. They’re sitting in the bridge, and Allura’s debriefing them on their latest mission, but Lance’s thoughts have happily flitted away. He’s aware that he’s not paying attention, but no matter how hard he tries to tune back in, it’s just not happening. And so his knee is bouncing up and down and his fingers are tapping on the arm of his chair and his thoughts have a mind of their own.</p>
<p>
  <em>What am I going to do if we’re connected forever? Would it be so bad to tell them what happened when we’re nowhere near Yule’thra anymore? What if he can hear my thoughts right now? What if he can tell how crazy I’m being?</em>
</p>
<p>“—paying attention? <em>Lance</em>,” someone snaps, and Lance’s head jerks up. His body doesn’t quite still, but his fingers stop tapping and his knee starts bouncing at a slower speed.</p>
<p>“Sorry, what?” he manages.</p>
<p>“I asked if you were paying attention,” Allura sighs. “This is important for our next mission. Everyone needs to be on the same page.”</p>
<p>“Right, of course,” Lance says quickly. “I was paying attention.”</p>
<p>Allura narrows her eyes at him. “What was I just saying?” she asks. Lance’s mind silences. He blinks, opens his mouth, and—</p>
<p>
  <em>How we’re going to attack under a guise. Pretend not all of us can make it to the battle only to surprise them.</em>
</p>
<p>“We’re going to trick them,” Lance says, glancing carefully at Keith. He nods imperceptibly. “We’ll make them think we’re not all there, and then surprise them.”</p>
<p>“Exactly,” Allura says, satisfied, and swiftly continues. Lance manages to pay attention, this time, though his eyes keep drifting towards Keith. Why did he help him? How did he project his thoughts so clearly?</p>
<p>The debriefing finally ends, and they have an hour before they need to suit up, so everyone stands to go their separate ways. Lance has already turned towards the kitchens, planning to get a snack to help him concentrate, but Keith catches up with him the second they’re off the bridge.</p>
<p>“Is your head always like that?” Keith asks, and Lance’s shoulders stiffen, hiking up towards his ears.</p>
<p>“Shouldn’t you know?” he snaps. “You’re the one with a Fast Pass into my mind.”</p>
<p>“It’s mostly just random words that get through,” Keith says. “I couldn’t even really hear what you were thinking. It just felt loud. Distracting.”</p>
<p>
  <em>Worried.</em>
</p>
<p>“It’s not always that bad,” Lance admits. “I used to take meds for it, before.” Before space. Before the war. Before they didn’t have access to things like medication from Earth. “To like… whatever. It doesn’t matter.”</p>
<p>“It does matter,” Keith says. “I bet Coran could figure something out.”</p>
<p>Lance shrugs. “They’re always weird, you know? I mean, I was on and off a few different kinds for a while. Sometimes they really suck. I don’t want to mess with that in the middle of a war. The enemy you know, and all that.”</p>
<p>Keith bumps his shoulder into Lance’s. “I’m sorry,” he says. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help. And who knows, maybe Altean medicine is really advanced. It wouldn’t hurt to find out more.”</p>
<p>“Right,” Lance says, and his smile starts out tight but loosens somewhat when he sees Keith’s expression. What a sap.</p>
<p>“I am not a sap,” Keith says.</p>
<p>“Stay out of my head!” Lance cries, but it doesn’t carry the same heat as usual. By God, he might just be starting to get used to this.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Days later, they find themselves in a trap. They went planet-side to converse with the people of Magreet, but the Magretians were already being held hostage. Galra forces swarmed on them the moment they set foot into the pavilion, and now everyone is fighting for their lives.</p>
<p>So, a typical afternoon, really.</p>
<p>The Magretians don’t actually want to cause harm towards Voltron, so the majority of them have scattered or run away. They line the edges of the large room while Voltron fight off the Galra. Unfortunately, the six of them managed to become separated. Instead of forming a ring and fighting side by side, they’re each on their own, handling the surrounding forces by themselves.</p>
<p>Lance growls, shooting his enemies as they approach and elbowing the ones that are already too close. His weapon really isn’t meant for close combat, and that’s never been more obvious than now.</p>
<p>He can feel Keith fighting in his mind, too. His alarm, his satisfaction, his adrenaline. Usually, Lance finds it distracting, but right now it’s kind of grounding.</p>
<p>That is, until one of the Galra gets the slip on him and he gets shot in the side. Lance cries out, pain erupting over the right half of his body. It feels like it’s boiling, and the pain feels like it’s crawling outwards, spreading. Lance switches his gun to his left hand and presses against the wound with the right.</p>
<p>“You okay?!” someone shouts over the comms, and Lance grits his teeth as he holds his weapon unsteadily, holding down on the trigger and spraying the Galra before him.</p>
<p>“Peachy,” Lance says, ignoring the throbbing ache in his side.</p>
<p>
  <em>Lying.</em>
</p>
<p>“Shut up, Keith.”</p>
<p>“Uh, Keith didn’t say anything,” Hunk points out.</p>
<p>“Alright, maybe I’m hallucinating then.” When everyone starts crying out in alarm, Lance scoffs. “I’m joking!” he swears. “I’m perfectly fine, really. Let’s just finish this up — I think they’re finally thinning.”</p>
<p>It’s another twenty minutes or so of sweaty, brutal fighting before it’s finally over. Keith kills the last Galra, slicing him down, and everyone just stands there for a moment, breathing heavily and examining the carnage. Bodies litter the floor, and the cowering Magretians still line the walls.</p>
<p>At some point, Lance switched hands again. He really is better with his right, but now there’s blood on both of his hands, along with the handle of his bayard. He transforms his weapon with a sigh, tucking it away and limping towards the Princess. Coran sounds relieved over the comms, and it sounds like the planet’s barrier is finally giving way, not that they need him for backup anymore.</p>
<p>“Alright, we better wrap this up and then we can head back to the lions. Any injuries?”</p>
<p>“Lance,” is all Keith says, and Lance shoots him a glare before everyone turns towards him. It’s immediately obvious, and plenty of gasps greet him as he grins at his teammates.</p>
<p>“Okay, I was a <em>little bit</em> shot,” he relents. He tries to shrug, but aborts with a flinch halfway through, his side complaining loudly with the movement.</p>
<p>“You — you need a pod right away,” Allura says, shaking her head. “How much blood have you lost? Are you feeling woozy?”</p>
<p>“I’m fine!” Lance insists. “I can make it to the pod just fine. It barely even hurts.”</p>
<p>Keith is glaring at him, and Lance is pretty sure he can tell that he’s lying. Fucking, stupid mind-link.</p>
<p>“Let’s go,” Hunk says, stepping up to help Lance walk to his lion. Idly, he wonders if Keith can feel the pain of his injury through their link. Maybe that’s why he seems so grumpy about it.</p>
<p>Whatever. At least getting shot means he doesn’t have to sit through the boring negotiations.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Soon enough, Lance realizes another disadvantage of the mind-link. Or, he’s kind of already realized it, actually, but now it’s obvious. It’s the fact that he can’t lie anymore.</p>
<p>Okay, that sounds bad. But he isn’t some kind of impulsive liar or anything, honest! He just does it unthinkingly, sometimes. To help his friends.</p>
<p>Like back on Magreet, for example. Why should he worry his friends about the fact that he was shot, or how much it really hurt, when it didn’t matter? When he’d be in a pod soon enough anyway? They all have enough to worry about each and every day without him adding to that pile, so — yeah.</p>
<p>But Lance didn’t realize how often he did stuff like that until Keith was in his head, <em>noticing</em> it and making snide comments when Lance did it.</p>
<p>Like when Lance couldn’t sleep one night — not for any particular reason, but just because that happened every once in a while — and he walked into the dining room the next morning. Shiro had taken one look at him and said, “Did you get any sleep?”</p>
<p>“Of course,” Lance had lied. “How else would I get this beautiful?”</p>
<p>And then there were snorts of laughter and groans — because there were always groans — and Lance was settling into his seat across from Keith, who was already raising his eyebrow. And maybe that’s where it really started.</p>
<p>There was that time when Pidge’s joke was a little too scathing, and Lance laughed a little too loud. Or that time with that weird monster on that crumbling planet, where Lance had fallen and his jetpack had malfunctioned and — well, he was fine in the end, so it didn’t really matter if he’d downplayed the sheer terror he’d felt.</p>
<p>Just. All of it. Keith noticed everything! And Lance was really getting sick of it, okay? There was just something nice about having the privacy of your own mind. Sue him.</p>
<p>Not to mention that sharing their thoughts meant that Lance hadn’t dared to do… certain things… ever since they’d been linked. And those certain things really helped with stress! And now Lance had no stress relief, <em>Keith</em>.</p>
<p>Come to think of it, why was it that Keith was always noticing these things about Lance? His thoughts barely popped into Lance’s head anymore — at least not like they had in the beginning.</p>
<p>That just obviously isn’t fair at all, so Lance decides to confront him.</p>
<p>“I’ve been practicing,” is all Keith says.</p>
<p>“Practicing what?” Lance demands.</p>
<p>“Controlling my mind. Once you can manage to keep your thoughts to yourself, it’s easier to project the ones you want to. It’s harder when there’s a lot going on, though.”</p>
<p>“What the fuck,” Lance says. “How do you know this stuff? And why are you practicing without me?!”</p>
<p>“I thought you were trying, too,” Keith says. “Don’t we have the same books?”</p>
<p>Lance’s eye twitches. Okay, he’ll admit it — he’s never been good at research. He’s more of a skimmer. It’s just. <em>So</em> hard to pay attention to a <em>book</em>. Seriously, every book presentation he’s ever done has been completed with the help of SparkNotes.</p>
<p>“This sucks,” Lance says, and maybe some of his thoughts slipped over the link, because Keith is looking at him sympathetically.</p>
<p>“I can help,” he offers.</p>
<p>“No, I’m fine,” Lance says. “I just haven’t gotten to that part of the book yet.”</p>
<p>And Keith gives him this flat stare. That, <em>I know you’re lying</em> look. And God — Lance is so ready for him to not know when he’s lying anymore, so he plops down in front of him and gets ready to practice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Surprisingly, it really does get easier. Even after practicing just a couple of times, Lance feels like his thoughts are mostly in his own head. <em>And</em>, even better, he can communicate mostly on purpose now. Sometimes it takes a couple tries, but usually what he’s trying to tell Keith goes through.</p>
<p><em>Is it working? </em>he thinks.</p>
<p><em>Yes, Lance,</em> Keith answers, and even in his mind he sounds dry. <em>It’s still working.</em></p>
<p><em>I wonder how far away it would work from,</em> Lance says. <em>Like, what if we went to different planets? Would it work then?</em></p>
<p>He can feel the hum of curiosity in Keith’s mind. When they’re communicating like this, it’s almost as if a little door is open. More thoughts and feelings slip through that way.</p>
<p><em>We’ll probably find out eventually, </em>Keith says. <em>We do get sent on missions to different planets every once in a while.</em></p>
<p><em>Wow, peace and quiet in my own mind,</em> Lance jokes. <em>Can you even imagine?</em></p>
<p>Amusement filters through Lance’s mind, and he grins in response.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>They’re at a banquet when this handsome guy approaches Lance. Like, objectively. Anyone would think he’s handsome.</p>
<p>“Hey there,” he says, and he’s smiling at Lance. He’s got blue skin and dark blue hair and his teeth are just a little bit sharp, almost fang-like. Inexplicably, Lance’s heart starts to race.</p>
<p>“Hey,” Lance says politely, and he smiles. It feels kind of like his flirting smile, but like. Maybe it’s also his diplomatic relations smile. He usually uses them in the same place, anyway.</p>
<p>“I’m Vatees,” the stranger says. “I’ll admit, I have been watching you all night.”</p>
<p>“You have?” Lance says, and this breathless sort of laugh escapes him. It’s just — it’s all very strange. This man… okay, Lance isn’t attracted to men — really, he isn’t — but this guy is obviously out of his league. He has huge muscles, especially obvious because his people don’t wear very many clothes. Half his chest is completely exposed, along with his arms, and Lance is just a string bean in comparison. That’s a fact.</p>
<p>But he feels so flustered. Maybe it’s because he’s not so used to getting flirted with. He’s usually doing the flirting — that’s definitely it. This isn’t — it’s not—</p>
<p>He’s not attracted to the guy.</p>
<p>“I imagine you’re very popular, where you come from,” Vatees says, and he’s still smiling like that. Smiling at <em>Lance</em> like that.</p>
<p>If Lance giggles… well, no one will ever know. “I don’t — I mean — I kind of left, before I was really old enough to find out,” Lance settles on. “I’ve done a lot of growing up out here in space.”</p>
<p>Vatees sidles in closer. Lance feels so warm all over. “It’s not fair, that you weren’t able to find out,” Vatees says, and it’s low and rumbly, and Lance’s breath feels like it’s escaping him, and—</p>
<p>
  <em>Oh.</em>
</p>
<p>Lance’s mind falls silent. Did… did he think that?</p>
<p>His eyes dart across the room, and then he finds — fuck. He finds Keith staring at him. Lance, pinned under the weight of Keith’s stare and the implications of what all this means.</p>
<p>Lance stumbles backwards. “I’m sorry,” he blurts. “I’ve just — I realized that I left a Shmormigaphsly in my room.”</p>
<p>Okay, he’ll admit it. He just said a bunch of sounds in the hopes of creating a word.</p>
<p>“A Shmormi—?”</p>
<p>“Yep! They’re these creature we picked up from another planet — it’ll destroy the castle if I leave it unattended. Gotta go!”</p>
<p>With that, Lance disappears. He hurries out of the main hall and starts down the set of stairs out front, his heart thundering. Fuck.</p>
<p>It’s just — of course there’s nothing <em>wrong</em> with being gay. Or bi, or — whatever. Lance has never had a problem with it! He just also really, never expected it from himself.</p>
<p>He comes from a big family. A big, catholic family, with many aunts and uncles, and grandparents, and great-grandparents…</p>
<p>Half those people live with him. Or… <em>lived</em>, with him. You know, back on Earth. His house was constantly full, family members as far as the eye could see. And he loved them all with his entire heart, of course he did, but there was absolutely no way that every single one of them would be okay with something like this. And he didn’t want to be unaccepted by any of them. So, you know. He’d always just been glad that he wasn’t — that he <em>isn’t</em>—</p>
<p>Oh, fuck it. He’s probably never even going to see his family ever again. He flies around in a robot lion and he lost his virginity to an <em>alien</em> — who cares if it was a female?</p>
<p>“You will see them again,” Keith says, and Lance jerks.</p>
<p>“Fuck,” he says. “Am I thinking that loud?”</p>
<p>“Not really,” Keith says, and he plops onto the stairs next to Lance, bumping their shoulders together. “It’s just random words all strung together. I kind of guessed what you were thinking.”</p>
<p>Lance sighs. “So I guess you know, then.”</p>
<p>“I don’t know anything you haven’t told me,” Keith says. “Your thoughts don’t define you.”</p>
<p>“I guess,” Lance mutters.</p>
<p>“If it makes you feel any better, I’m gay,” Keith says, and Lance’s spine straightens. His head whips towards Keith, his eyes wide, and he feels his mouth fall open.</p>
<p>“Wh — really?”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Keith says with a shrug. “It’s no big deal. To me, at least. It might be different for people with religious families…”</p>
<p>Lance glares. “I <em>was</em> thinking loud.”</p>
<p>“Only a little,” Keith relents, and he smiles, and it’s — <em>cute</em>, Lance’s thoughts interrupt. He isn’t sure if that got projected over to Keith, but if it did, Keith has the decency not to say anything about it.</p>
<p>So Lance swallows his panic and lets out a breath and says, “I’m pretty sure I’m bi. But I’ve never — I’ve never — anything. With a guy. You know.”</p>
<p>“That’s fine,” Keith says. “You don’t have to have made out with guys to prove it to yourself. If you think you are, then that’s enough.”</p>
<p>Lance frowns. “I kind of want to, though,” he whispers. “I mean, some of these societies don’t even have just <em>two</em> genders — who cares about being straight? That’s like—" he laughs “—that’s <em>got</em> to be the least of my problems.”</p>
<p>“That blue guy looked pretty interested in you,” Keith says, bumping Lance’s shoulder again, and a wild burst of giggles escape Lance.</p>
<p>“I don’t even know what to do,” Lance says. He’s grinning now, though. He thought he’d feel horrible admitting this to himself. Why does he feel so giddy?</p>
<p>“Just do what you always do,” Keith says.</p>
<p>Lance jumps to his feet, suddenly charged with energy. Keith’s got this weird look on his face, but Lance can’t quite place it. And then Keith’s smiling encouragingly anyway, so Lance bounces in place a few times. “Okay,” he says. “I’m gonna go — I’m gonna seduce that man. Wish me luck!”</p>
<p>“Good luck, Lance,” Keith appeases him, and Lance rushes back into the banquet, his eyes peeled. He finds Vatees easily, and the alien smiles grandly when he sees Lance.</p>
<p>“Have you gotten rid of the Shmormigaphsly?” he asks.</p>
<p>Lance grins. “Yes.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Not for the first time, Lance doesn’t end up in bed with the alien he was wooing at a banquet. Sometimes Lance says something offensive in their culture and gets a drink thrown in his face. Other times the banquet is cut short by an attack, or an incoming transmission requesting their help. This time, Lance gives the guy a peck on the lips and tactfully retreats.</p>
<p>Lance is just still a little nervous about that whole thing. At least he knows what to do in bed with a girl. Guys, on the other hand… Well, it probably can’t be all that different. But still.</p>
<p>And besides, Lance isn’t sure if he’d be able to keep Keith out of his head the whole time, so that could just get weird.</p>
<p>Understandably, however, Lance can’t stop <em>thinking</em> about it. Vatees is just in his head, permeating his thoughts, even as Lance falls asleep.</p>
<p><em>“I imagine you’re very popular, where you come from,"</em> Vatees says. This time, he has Lance pinned against a wall. Funny — Lance is usually the one doing the pinning. But Vatees’ hand is on Lance’s side, and then Lance realizes that he’s wearing the same getup as him, the majority of his skin left on view. Vatees’ hand is warm, and his thumb is stroking Lance’s skin.</p>
<p><em>“It’s not fair, that you didn’t get to find out,”</em> he continues, and then his hand slides down, down, and Lance gasps. It feels amazing. It feels different. His hands are calloused, and strong, and they know exactly what they’re doing.</p>
<p><em>“Oh my God,”</em> Lance says, his head tipped back, his gaze on the ceiling. With hooded eyes, he looks back towards the man pleasuring him and jolts in surprise. <em>“What are you</em> — Keith?”</p>
<p><em>“You good, Lance?”</em> Keith says, but his eyes twinkle mischievously and his hand twists purposefully and Lance groans, curling forward until his head hits Keith’s shoulder. Keith’s other hand comes up and rubs Lance’s back, trailing up and down it as he shivers. <em>“I’ve got you.”</em></p>
<p>In the dream, Lance comes. In real life, Lance’s eyes flow open, and he’s achingly hard. His hair is plastered to his forehead with sweat — same with the back of his shirt — and he realizes that the mind-link is eerily quiet.</p>
<p>Lance’s heart starts pounding. Embarrassment oozes from his every pore. He’s 99% sure Keith witnessed that.</p>
<p>It… definitely started out as Lance’s dream. But had the rest really been his?</p>
<p>He and Keith had witnessed each other’s dreams before, since this whole mind-link thing. There were fleeting memories that Lance didn’t recognize, dreams in places he didn’t know and nightmares about fears he didn’t have. But this… they’d never shared a dream like <em>this</em> before.</p>
<p>Oh God. Lance wants to curl up and die.</p>
<p><em>You up? </em>Keith suddenly says, and Lance can feel himself flinching away from the invading thought. Fucking Keith. He <em>knows</em> he’s up. Their mind-link feels different when the other is asleep.</p>
<p><em>ZzZzzZ</em>, Lance thinks back.</p>
<p><em>You just. Did you really just think the letter ‘z’ at me?</em> Keith demands</p>
<p><em>That doesn’t sound like me,</em> Lance says.</p>
<p>
  <em>Look, I just wanted to tell you to stop freaking out.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I’m not freaking out.</em>
</p>
<p>Lance can feel Keith’s disbelief and exasperation from here. Rude.</p>
<p><em>I had the same kind of dream about the first guy I found out was gay,</em> Keith volunteers. <em>It’s natural. Your brain’s just making connections. Exploring thoughts you never allowed it to have before.</em></p>
<p>Lance groans. Both out loud and into Keith’s mind. <em>Can we please just forget this ever happened?</em> he begs. There’s a moment of silence.</p>
<p><em>Forget what ever happened?</em> Keith says.</p>
<p>Lance laughs, staring up at the dim lights before him, and he turns onto his side, shaking his head fondly at the wall opposite him. <em>Thanks, buddy.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What’s up with you and Keith?” Pidge says, and Lance promptly drops his plate of food goo.</p>
<p>“Aw, man,” he says, admiring the mess he made on the floor. See, <em>this</em> is why they need a space dog. Then no one would have to worry about stupid messes like these. “Sorry, what?” Lance says, looking back to Pidge. She’s eyeing him suspiciously.</p>
<p>“You and Keith,” she says. “It’s like — there’s something different between you two.”</p>
<p><em>Sex dream,</em> Lance thinks.</p>
<p><em>What? </em>Keith pops into his head, and Lance realizes he projected that.</p>
<p>
  <em>NOTHING. GO AWAY.</em>
</p>
<p>“Lance!” Pidge shouts.</p>
<p>“What?!”</p>
<p>“Are you listening to me?”</p>
<p>“I zoned out,” Lance admits, and he fends Pidge off when she tries to punch him.</p>
<p>“You guys rarely ever fight anymore,” she points out. “It feels like you’re on the same page, or something.”</p>
<p>“Is that so bad?” Lance asks. “That we might be finally getting along?”</p>
<p>“Of course not,” Pidge scoffs. “But it’s like the page you’re on is a different page than the rest of us.”</p>
<p>“This metaphor’s too elaborate,” Lance says, except he thinks he might get exactly what she’s talking about. Keith has always been his teammate, and even before all of this Lance would’ve easily given his life for him, but only now is he realizing that above all, he’s a friend.</p>
<p>When they first started practicing with their mind-link, all Lance cared about was keeping his thoughts to himself. He was sick and tired of Keith getting glimpses into his mind, and he’d wanted nothing more than to be able to block him out. But when Keith started teaching him how to project his thoughts, Lance found himself starting to use in unconsciously. Simple things, really.</p>
<p>Like once, when Allura was looking for Keith and he wasn’t in the training room, Lance had told him. And then Keith had walked into the bridge just as Allura was about to call for him over the comms.</p>
<p>Or when Lance was working on Blue, cleaning her outside and fine-tuning some of her insides. He’d just gone ahead and asked Keith if he knew where the tool Lance was missing was.</p>
<p>But it’s become more than that. Now, sometimes they’ll just talk for entertainment. They’ll pop into each other’s heads with something they’ve been wondering about, or to warn the other like, say, when Lance is late to the briefing and Shiro swears he’s going to push him harder in training that day if he’s not there in the next twenty tics.</p>
<p>“You’d tell us if something was going on, right?” Pidge asks, and Lance freezes. Pidge is scarily smart, they all know that. But would she be able to guess that two of her teammates had a mind-link?</p>
<p>“What do you mean?” Lance says slowly.</p>
<p>Pidge squints at him. “Jesus Christ,” she finally says. “Are you two <em>dating</em>?”</p>
<p>“What?! Pidge! No!” Lance splutters. Why would she even think that? It’s not like she even knows he’s into dudes — right?</p>
<p>Pidge just continues to look at him distrustfully. Lance scoffs, saying, “No!” once more — loudly — before leaving the room.</p>
<p>It’s stupid, but the thought of Pidge just <em>knowing</em> makes Lance uncomfortable. The fact that someone could know without him telling them. And then he feels mad at himself, because he thought he was past this. He thought he was fine with the way things were. The way he was.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We’ll be splitting up,” Allura says, flicking her hand so that three holographic planets form in front of them. “These are sister planets, called Joyturous, Raymurous, and Taxourous. Each house a different mineral we need to deliver to Olkarian, though our intel shows that only one is guarded by the Galra.”</p>
<p>“That’s weird,” says Keith.</p>
<p>“Not entirely,” Allura says. “The planets are quite far from each other — the Galra might not even know they’re sisters.”</p>
<p>“So, what,” Lance says. “We just pop in, grab some of that mineral, and get out?”</p>
<p>“Ideally,” Allura says brightly. “Coran will remain midway between the planets, hopefully within communication distance of everyone. Those at Joyturous, for example, won’t be able to communicate with those at Taxourous.”</p>
<p>“I don’t like that,” says Hunk.</p>
<p>“Me neither,” Allura admits. “However, Coran will be able to communicate between all of us. The sooner we get this done, the better.”</p>
<p>“Which one’s guarded by the Galra?” Pidge asks.</p>
<p>Allura frowns. “We don’t know,” she says. “We weren’t able to gather that much.”</p>
<p>“Alright, so we’re going in blind,” Lance concludes. “Sounds fun. What are the teams?”</p>
<p>“I call Keith!” Pidge blurts. Everyone turns to stare at her. Keith looks the most confused. Lance, however, just feels a trickle of dread.</p>
<p>“And I call Lance!” Hunk says next, and wow. This is just clearly some sort of plot they’ve planned together, the evil bastards.</p>
<p>“I guess that leaves me and you, Princess,” says Shiro, though both he and Allura look confused. Lance just rolls his eyes.</p>
<p>“Let’s get this over with,” he says. “But me and Hunk call Joyturous! That sounds like happy-fun-land.”</p>
<p>By the time they’re in their lions, everyone starts setting up their comm channels. One for each team, and one for each team with a connection back to the Castle.</p>
<p><em>Guess we’re about to find out how far this mental-link can stretch,</em> Lance says.</p>
<p><em>I’m kind of hoping it can stretch far,</em> Keith admits. <em>I don’t like the idea of not being able to talk to you like this or over the comms.</em></p>
<p><em>Relax, we’ll be fine,</em> Lance says, except he’s feeling the exact same, and Keith can probably tell. Even if the comms would work from that far, he doesn’t like the idea of not having Keith a mere thought away.</p>
<p>Blue and Yellow set off towards Joyturous, and at first, Lance thinks the mind-link’s going to hold. He can still feel Keith in the back of his head, and he gets the feeling that Keith’s paying their link the same amount of attention he is.</p>
<p>“You know you can tell me anything, right, buddy?” Hunk says, and it jerks Lance out of his head. He sees Hunk projected on the screen before him and forces himself to grin.</p>
<p>“Of course I know that. How come?”</p>
<p>Hunk frowns, looking uncertain. Oh yeah, Pidge totally put him up to this.</p>
<p>“I don’t know,” he says uneasily. “I just feel like… if you have anything on your mind, you know… That you might want to share…?”</p>
<p>Lance laughs. “You’ll definitely be the first I’ll go to,” he says, ignoring the fact that that might not be quite true, anymore. It’s just easy so share things with Keith. He’s just <em>there</em>, and there’s a chance that he’ll find out anyway, whether Lance intentionally shares it with him or not.</p>
<p>Already, Lance realizes that he’s left Hunk in the dark about some things. The mind link, for one. And the fact that he’s attracted to guys, for another. It’s ridiculous, because he knows Hunk would be the first to support him. And for some reason Lance still hasn’t found the courage to tell the big guy…</p>
<p>He’ll tell him soon. As soon as this mission is over, in fact. Maybe then he’ll stop feeling like such a bad friend.</p>
<p><em>Lance</em>, Keith says, and Lance realizes that his voice sounds quieter. Like he’s really far away, stretched thin and distant.</p>
<p><em>Oh shit,</em> Lance says, but Keith doesn’t answer. Lance isn’t even sure if he heard.</p>
<p>He tries to distract himself for the rest of the journey. He and Hunk go through the information Coran’s sent them, familiarizing themselves with the type of mineral they’re looking for and where it can be found.</p>
<p>By the time they’re breaking through Joyturous’ atmosphere, Lance can’t really feel Keith at all. He thinks he might be imagining the presence that he can feel. Lance tries to concentrate on their mission, partly in an attempt to distract himself.</p>
<p>The descent to the surface is smooth — until they’re shot at.</p>
<p>“Fuck!” Lance says. And then, “That’s not fair! Our planet has the word ‘joy’ in it!”</p>
<p>“Maybe that means something else in Galra,” Hunk says, sounding strained, and they split up to take on the Galra fighters that fly towards them.</p>
<p>Embarrassingly, Lance is almost glad they ended up with the Galra planet. At least now he doesn’t have to worry about Keith getting hurt without him realizing it.</p>
<p>“Go long!” Lance says, and he headbutts a ship only for Hunk to blow it up with his laser guns. They both cheer.</p>
<p>“This is nice,” Hunk says, exploding three fighter jets at once.</p>
<p>“Sure is, buddy,” Lance says. “Behind you!”</p>
<p>Hunk darts out of the way and Lance gets rid of the enemy on his tail. Hunk clears his throat.</p>
<p>“We work well together,” Hunk says, a little too obvious. “Probably because we’ve been friends for so long.”</p>
<p>“Probably,” Lance says shortly. A jet is on his tail and he takes his lion into a dive, leading it towards the surface of the planet.</p>
<p>“Yup, best friends forever,” Hunk says loudly. “Best friends who never keep anything from each other—"</p>
<p>“You trying to say something here?” Lance says, his voice strained. His teeth are gritted, his fingers wrapped tightly around the levers. Two more jets are on him now, and they’re all barreling towards the planet.</p>
<p>“I just think you should tell me whatever you’re not telling me!” Hunk explodes. “Since when do we keep things from each other?”</p>
<p>“Since when do we press each other to talk about things we’re not ready to talk about?!” Lance returns. Usually, Hunk knows when not to press. He knows when to let Lance keep his thoughts to himself, distracting him instead of forcing him to talk.</p>
<p>In his anger, Lance leaned harder on the controls, and only now does he realize how close to the surface he is. He throws himself backwards, yanking hard on the controls to bring Blue up. Behind him, three jets crash and explode.</p>
<p>“Are you and Keith dating?” Hunk demands, and then his lion turns towards Blue and fires. A jet sneaking up from behind Blue explodes.</p>
<p>“No!” Lance says. “And I don’t know why everyone things I’m gay all the sudden!”</p>
<p>“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Hunk points out.</p>
<p>“I know that!” Lance snaps. “And I might be — I am — I’m bisexual, but that’s not the point.”</p>
<p>“Lance,” Hunk sighs happily. “I — I really shouldn’t have forced that out of you, I’m sorry. But I’m proud of you, buddy. I love you.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, yeah,” Lance mutters, feeling affectionate despite himself. “That’s not even what I needed to tell you.”</p>
<p>“It’s not?”</p>
<p>“No,” Lance says, and he shoots the jet coming up from under them. There’s definitely less of them now. “Keith and I aren’t dating. We just have a mind-link.”</p>
<p>Over the comms, there’s complete silence. Lance clears his throat.</p>
<p>“What?” Hunk finally says.</p>
<p>“You can’t tell anyone,” Lance blurts.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry — what?”</p>
<p>“Keith and I have had a mind-link ever since Yule’thra,” Lance says. “We fell into this sacred telepathy forcefield moments before you and Pidge broke that statue, so we kept it a secret so we wouldn’t ruin the alliance.”</p>
<p>“And you never told anyone!? Even after?” Hunk demands.</p>
<p>“There are — reasons,” Lance says, suddenly unable to think of them. Maybe there aren’t very many reasons. Maybe telling the team would mean getting rid of the link, and Lance isn’t sure if either of them even want that anymore. “You can’t tell anyone, Hunk. I’m serious.”</p>
<p>“Okay,” Hunk says.</p>
<p>“Not even Keith,” Lance says.</p>
<p>“Okay!” Hunk agrees, and Lance realizes that they’ve destroyed the rest of the enemy fighters.</p>
<p>“Coran, we’re heading down to the planet now,” Lance says, switching channels. “We ran into some Galra.”</p>
<p>Silence.</p>
<p>“Coran?”</p>
<p>“We must be out of range,” Hunk says. “Let’s get the mineral and head back.”</p>
<p>Thankfully, the rest of their mission is easy. The mineral grows in clumps on the ground, rather than deep inside any caves, so they get a good number of samples within minutes.</p>
<p>Lance feels relieved as they head back, but that relief soon turns into unease. It starts small, like an inkling in the back of his mind, but it only grows stronger.</p>
<p>“Hunk? Lance?” Coran’s voice cuts in.</p>
<p>“Coran!” Hunk cries. “We’ve been out of range!”</p>
<p>Anxiety overwhelms Lance, unbidden. Something feels very wrong, and he starts speeding up unconsciously.</p>
<p>“You need to hurry back,” Coran says. “Pidge and Keith are under attack — their planet had the Galra.”</p>
<p>“Wait, <em>our</em> planet had the Galra,” Hunk says.</p>
<p>“That’s most concerning…” Coran says. “Allura and Shiro already went to help them, but their comms cut out as soon as they entered the atmosphere.”</p>
<p>“Then ours will, too,” Lance says. “We’ll be there in a few minutes. Can you try to fix the comm situation?”</p>
<p>“I’m on it,” Coran says.</p>
<p>Most disconcertingly, Lance still can’t feel Keith. He doesn’t answer when Lance projects his thoughts, and anxiety claws at him. His thoughts are already racing, his head going into hyperfocus territory, and Keith’s calming presence is nowhere to be found.</p>
<p>Just as they break through the planet’s atmosphere, their comms go offline. Lance can’t even talk to Hunk, but Yellow’s head angles towards him. Lance can see their friends on the ground — their colorful armor making them easy to pinpoint — but they’re surrounded by a ring of Galra. He rushes to land, leaping to his feet the second Blue touches down.</p>
<p>And then they step off their lions and directly into an ambush. The Galra had been hiding in these person-sized holes that apparently riddle this delightful planet, and the second Lance and Hunk leave the safety of their lions, they’re surrounded.</p>
<p>“Who scheduled the welcoming party?” Lance jokes, before he and Hunk are forced to raise their arms in surrender or risk being shot. They’re both handcuffed and carted away, two Galra soldiers escorting them.</p>
<p>“Whiskers — can I call you Whiskers?” Lance says to the Galra holding on to him, who has the longest whiskers he’s ever seen.</p>
<p>“No,” the Galra grunts. Lance ignores him.</p>
<p>“Whiskers, how ‘bout you just let us go now, and we won’t have to kill you?”</p>
<p>The Galra snorts, and they’re ushered to where the rest of the team is being kept. It’s no real prison — they’re literally in an open field — but everyone’s been forced into cooperating thanks to the many guns they have aimed at their heads. Keith is on the ground, clearly passed out and propped against Pidge, who’s squatting next to him. Concentrating, Lance realizes he can feel Keith — it’s different to when he’s asleep, but the thread between their minds is definitely still there. Lance tugs on it.</p>
<p>“Jeez, careful with the goods,” Lance says as he’s shoved into the ring of his friends. Shiro catches him, because of course he’s capable of catching a person even without the use of his arms. God bless that man.</p>
<p><em>Keith, dude, wake up,</em> Lance urges, tug, tug, tugging at that thread. He wants to feel the warmth of Keith’s mind. And thank God Keith’s still too unconscious to have felt that sentiment.</p>
<p>“Silence, paladin,” Whiskers says, and then he joins the ring of Galra guarding them.</p>
<p>“I’m just saying—" Lance says, not one to be threatened into submission, when the Galra nearest to him whirls around and smacks him across the face with his blaster. It’s less painful than it would be were Lance not wearing his helmet, but even still it makes his ears ring. He can taste blood in his mouth, though the throb of the actual injury is dulled under his adrenaline.</p>
<p><em>That one’s dying first,</em> Lance thinks viciously. Or, wait, no — Keith thinks it. Lance jolts, turning to look at him, and Keith is blinking blearily awake, struggling to his feet with what looks like reluctant help from Pidge, who clearly wants him to remain seated.</p>
<p>Keith’s wrong. Whoever hit him hard enough to knock him out is who’s dying first.</p>
<p><em>Thank God you’re okay,</em> Lance says, affection running rampant into Keith’s mind, and he doesn’t even try to stop it. He’s just relieved Keith’s okay. Relieved that they’re close enough to feel each other again.</p>
<p><em>I’m fine,</em> Keith assures him, despite almost definitely having a concussion. Guess Lance wasn’t doing a stellar job of keeping his worry at bay, then.</p>
<p><em>We have to do something,</em> Lance thinks, staring around them desperately. There are Galra soldiers herding the actual citizens of the planet much like they’d herded them. A little boy trips, and the Galra behind him charges his weapon as he yells at him to get up.</p>
<p>The rest of their team is sharing furtive looks, obviously trying to communicate silently. But none of them have the advantage that he and Keith do.</p>
<p><em>Where is the mineral on this planet?</em> Lance asks.</p>
<p><em>In the holes,</em> Keith says, nodding his head towards the field.</p>
<p><em>Then we’ll get the mineral after we get rid of the Galra,</em> Lance decides. Across the way, there are machines marching across the grass, some sort of Galra-made abominations. They’re high up in the air, housing several Galra and equipped with guns, but they’re practically on stilts, the machines’ legs putting them high above everything else on the field. Whatever ships the Galra might have, they’re not active right now. They’ve probably been residing on this planet for a while now, especially if they’ve unloaded these war machines.</p>
<p><em>Where are your weapons?</em> Lance says.</p>
<p><em>They threw them in that hole over there,</em> Keith says, and Lance follows his gaze to a hole that just two Galra are guarding, as opposed to the several surrounding them.</p>
<p><em>That guy still has mine and Hunk’s,</em> Lance says. <em>Whiskers,</em> he adds.</p>
<p>The Galra in question is standing nearest to Keith, Lance’s bayard strapped to one side of his hip and Hunk’s to the other.</p>
<p><em>I’m getting it,</em> Keith says.</p>
<p><em>Wait, shouldn’t we think of a plan?!</em> Lance protests, but it’s too late. Keith’s already moving.</p>
<p>He twists around, approaching Whiskers backwards, and he grabs onto Lance’s bayard, spinning his body away just as the Galra notices. Lance isn’t quite sure how it happens — maybe they can all access each other’s weapons, or maybe it has something to do with the fact that his and Keith’s mind are connected, because just as the Galra yells out, “Hey!” Lance’s bayard transforms in Keith’s hands.</p>
<p>He’s holding Lance’s gun, and he looks surprised at the sudden weight, but he’s not one to blow an opportunity as golden as this.</p>
<p>“Duck!” Lance yells, and they do, but of course the Galra don’t listen. Which is good, honestly, because it means they all get shot when Keith lays on the trigger and spins in a circle. It’s an idiot movie, because he’s never shot a gun before (to Lance’s knowledge), and especially not with his hands tied behind his back, but it works. The Galra nearest to them are dead, and those who notice the commotion are too far away to do anything about it.</p>
<p>“Jesus, Keith!” Shiro says, but Keith ignores him. He kicks Hunk’s blaster towards its respective paladin, and Lance rises and steps towards Keith.</p>
<p>“Your knife,” is all he says, and then Keith offers his back to Lance, and Lance has to turn around and try to dig Keith’s knife out of his suit with his hands bound, but he gets it eventually.</p>
<p>Soon enough, they’ve all got full mobility again, and they’re all talking over each other.</p>
<p>“—very dangerous,” Shiro is saying, because he’s the dad of the group and he’s probably legally bound to do so.</p>
<p>“—was fucking <em>sick</em>,” Pidge says, speaking over him.</p>
<p>And, “They’re coming!” Hunk says, which draws their attention away from their little bubble and across the field. The war machines are coming their way, and the guns are already charging, glowing green and whining loudly as they do.</p>
<p>“First thing’s first, we take those out,” Lance says. “Then we get the mineral.”</p>
<p>“First thing’s first, we get our weapons,” Keith disagrees, and another few blasts of Lance’s bayard leaves their weapons unguarded. Keith tosses his blaster back, and Lance catches it. Pidge eyes the weapon curiously, probably wondering how Keith managed to activate it.</p>
<p>“How are we supposed to take those down?” Hunk demands. “We need our lions.”</p>
<p>“We’ll have to split up,” Allura says. “…Again. One or two of you go to the lions, and the rest of us will stay here and draw their fire.”</p>
<p>“The highest of jobs,” Pidge snarks, but Lance is already eyeing Blue, waging his chances.</p>
<p>“I’ll go,” he says. “I’m the fastest.”</p>
<p>Keith scoffs. “<em>I’m</em> the fastest,” he argues, back with everyone’s weapons.</p>
<p>“You were <em>just</em> passed out—"</p>
<p>And then the ground explodes in front of them, the first war-machine having fired. The heat would be enough to sear their skin without their armor, but even still the force of it rattles Lance’s teeth and leaves his legs shaking. That was close.</p>
<p>“You’re both the fastest!” Allura shouts. “Now, go!”</p>
<p>Just like that, they’re off. For a moment, they run side by side, leaping over the holes in the ground and flinching when the machines shoot at their friends, though they don’t dare look back. There’s three of the machines, and one of them takes an interest in them, which is when they split up. Their lions are a ways apart, anyway.</p>
<p><em>Watch out!</em> Lance says, and Keith flings himself into a hole just as a blast hits where he was standing.</p>
<p><em>I’m okay,</em> he says, and reliefs floods Lance’s body as he races directly towards one of the machines, dodging between its legs as he barrels past it. It takes a while to turn, but he successfully got its attention, drawing its fire away from Keith.</p>
<p>Blue senses him coming and opens her mouth before he can even get to her. The second he’s in his seat, she shoots into the air, just barely avoiding another blast. The comms are still down, but it doesn’t matter.</p>
<p><em>You good?</em> Lance asks, just as Red takes to the air after him.</p>
<p><em>So good,</em> Keith says sarcastically, and then they’re darting towards the machines, swooping in front of them and shooting their hulls.</p>
<p>These things are built like tanks, though, and their lasers do nothing.</p>
<p><em>You ever seen The Empire Strikes Back?</em> Lance quips.</p>
<p><em>Seen Star Wars, I have,</em> Keith responds, and he’s such a fucking nerd — the sheer amount of affection that floods Lance is embarrassing. But there’s no time to dwell on it now.</p>
<p>
  <em>Then let’s take down these Walkers.</em>
</p>
<p>Unfortunately, they don’t have any sort of grappling hook to tie up the machines’ legs like they do in the movies, but they follow the same idea. They start aiming for the legs, where the joints are weakest, and at one point Keith literally just flings Red into one of the legs, and the machine goes down.</p>
<p><em>You’re fucking insane,</em> Lance thinks fondly.</p>
<p><em>Insanely smart,</em> Keith says, and Lance just shakes his head in exasperation.</p>
<p>Soon after that, victory is theirs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Well, not entirely.</p>
<p>Because Hunk keeps giving Lance and Keith these Significant Looks™, because unlike everyone else, he knows why they were able to work so well together back there, even with their comms down. And Pidge, thinking those looks meant they were dating, was giving the same looks to them twofold.</p>
<p>Not even an entire day later, Keith says, <em>Pidge was asking me… Well, did Hunk talk to you about...</em></p>
<p><em>I don’t wanna talk about it,</em> Lance says, because he knows exactly what Pidge probably asked him. And so they both resolutely ignore it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lance doesn’t want to say he’s doing it to make a point, but… Well, he might be doing it to make a point.</p>
<p>Lately, neither Hunk nor Pidge seem to want to cut him any slack. For Pidge, this meant the constant pestering, and sly looks, and raised eyebrows — the absolute conviction that Lance is in a relationship with Keith no matter what he tells her. As for Hunk, this meant not-so-subtle bumps and nudges every time he was near a member of the male species — of <em>any</em> species. No matter what they were planet-side for, if a man so much as glanced at Lance, Hunk was trying to get him to make a move. Never mind the fact that Lance still likes women as well as men.</p>
<p>So, yeah, maybe he’s feeling a little vindictive. And maybe he’s also super horny, because he’s still yet to gather the courage to charm the one-eyed snake (so to speak).</p>
<p>Anyway, yeah, this is happening.</p>
<p>“Oh!” she giggles, when Lance dips her on the dance floor. Her hair nearly brushes the ground, and not that Lance is trying to be crass, but her cleavage makes a valiant effort to escape the top of her dress as she’s being dipped. When he pulls her back up, she presses herself against him, and Lance grins over her head in Hunk and Pidge’s direction.</p>
<p>Only minutes later, they’ve managed to ensconce themselves in an alcove. The great chamber’s actually full of them, complete with curtains that hang to the ground. On their way to the planet, Coran had briefed them about the species.</p>
<p>“They’re a very… touch-oriented, kind of people,” he’d said delicately.</p>
<p>“What the hell does that mean?” Keith had said.</p>
<p>“Well,” Coran had hedged. “They’re rather… sexual, in nature. It doesn’t hold the same kind of connotations as it might in human or Altean societies. I’m only warning you so you’re not alarmed if there are any type of public acts.”</p>
<p>“Wow,” Pidge had said blandly. “So they’re exhibitionists.” Hunk had snorted, and Keith had remained completely silent, though Lance had felt his embarrassment radiating through their mind-link. Who would’ve guessed that Keith was a prude?</p>
<p>“Eager much?” Lance murmurs as she swishes the curtain closed behind them. In an instant, he has her against the wall, though only because she pulled him there.</p>
<p>“Sex is as normal to my people as dinner,” she says. Lance is pretty sure her name is Reb’la.</p>
<p>“Well, it’s less normal for my people, so don’t judge me too harshly,” Lance jokes, and she laughs prettily. The next thing he knows, her lips are pressed against his, and one of her hands has found its way into his pants. He gasps against her mouth.</p>
<p><em>Are you in danger?</em> Keith’s voice suddenly pops into his head. Lance almost flinches, but he keeps his composure and manages to keep kissing Reb’la. Wow, okay, yeah — that’s definitely weird.</p>
<p><em>No,</em> Lance thinks at him.</p>
<p><em>You feel alarmed,</em> Keith says.</p>
<p><em>Nope. Shut up, now,</em> Lance says as politely as possibly, and then he’s picking Reb’la up and holding her aloft with the help of the wall. She gathers her dress around her hips and — damn, okay, her people don’t wear underwear. That’s cool.</p>
<p>“Say, when sex is as common as dinner, how common are sexually transmitted diseases?” Lance asks, possibly a little too late.</p>
<p>“Nonexistent,” Reb’la says, and then she reaches down and starts things for herself. Lance gasps as he sinks into her, his fingers digging into her thighs as he starts to move. Fuck, it feels so good. It’s been way, <em>way</em> too long.</p>
<p><em>Okay, something is seriously going on,</em> Keith says, popping into his head again. <em>Where even are you? I don’t see you anywhere.</em></p>
<p>Lance groans, and then he moans, Reb’la throwing her head back as she grips his shoulders.</p>
<p>
  <em>Lance? Why aren’t you answering me? What’s going on?</em>
</p>
<p>“You sell yourself short,” Reb’la says breathlessly, looking down at him through hooded eyes. “You’re not too shabby, Paladin.”</p>
<p>Lance surges in for a kiss.</p>
<p><em>Nothing</em>, Lance manages.</p>
<p><em>It doesn’t feel like nothing,</em> Keith protests, insistent. Lance can’t tell whether he feels more annoyed or aroused. Annoyed, that Keith is interrupting him. Aroused, because he has a beautiful woman in front of him. And also because… maybe because…</p>
<p>No. That can’t be it.</p>
<p><em>Dude,</em> Lance says, not knowing what else to say, and then realization shoots through his mind.</p>
<p>
  <em>Are you — are you seriously… right now?!</em>
</p>
<p>God, this is — it’s so — Lance gasps. Thrusts into her harder. He doesn’t know if he’s ever been this turned on.</p>
<p><em>Thought I had better control,</em> Lance says. <em>Guess I was — “oh my God.”</em></p>
<p>Reb’la giggles. “You’ll never be able to forget this night,” she promises.</p>
<p>Lance already knows that’s true, though maybe not for the reasons she suspects.</p>
<p>
  <em>Jesus, Lance. I can’t believe you’re… we’re connected!</em>
</p>
<p><em>You’re the one who keeps talking to me,</em> Lance points out, and he moans against Reb’la’s ear.</p>
<p>
  <em>Well it’s kind of hard to ignore.</em>
</p>
<p><em>Sorry, </em>Lance says, not feeling very apologetic.<em> Fuck, that felt good.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>Do you have to tell me that?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Meant to say it out loud.</em>
</p>
<p>Reb’la shoves her hands against the wall behind her, and Lance stumbles backwards, gasping as he trips onto a bench built into the opposite wall. “Fuck,” he says, as Reb’la grinds against him, doing all the work herself.</p>
<p>
  <em>Keith.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>What?</em>
</p>
<p>Lance’s mind goes blank for a second. <em>Um</em>, he says. <em>Can’t remember what I was going to say.</em></p>
<p>Keith is silent for a long moment. Lance is too, internally. Outward, he’s got his mouth on Reb’la’s, and she’s swallowing his each and every gasp.</p>
<p>But then, <em>It turns you on,</em> Keith says. <em>Talking to me while you’re doing that.</em></p>
<p>Lance shivers. God, that’s embarrassing. And also totally spot-on. He’s never going to live this down.</p>
<p><em>Shut up,</em> Lance says. <em>That’s totally not it.</em></p>
<p><em>Yeah, all right,</em> Keith says, suddenly cocky. <em>Guess we’ll see when you’re dreaming about it later.</em></p>
<p>And, Jesus Christ. Lance comes, moaning into her mouth. He grabs Reb’la and thrusts upwards and he doesn’t even hear the sounds she makes, not really, because all his attention’s on that link in his head. He goes limp and weak-limbed after he comes, and wow, that’s mortifying. He definitely just projected his orgasm through the link.</p>
<p>He blinks dumbly up at Reb’la. “Um,” he says. “Did you…?”</p>
<p>“Oh, I made sure of it,” she says, and then she climbs off him gracefully. She kisses him on the cheek, gives him a wink, and disappears with a flounce out the alcove.</p>
<p>Lance is too ashamed to even try to say anything to Keith over the link. He’s just trying to lock down his every thought, his every feeling, as he stands up and makes himself presentable.</p>
<p>He takes two steps out of the alcove before bumping into Keith.</p>
<p>They both stumble back a step, and Lance can’t tell which one of them is blushing harder.</p>
<p>“Um,” Lance says, his eyes wide and his mouth suddenly dry. Keith examines him for a second.</p>
<p>“You have sex hair,” he finally concludes, his eyes landing somewhere above Lance’s. “Also, your shirt’s buttoned wrong.”</p>
<p>“I’m killing myself,” Lance says, and Keith snorts, rolling his eyes.</p>
<p>“Forget about it?” he suggests, and Lance nods gratefully. That’s, like, the sixth item on their ‘Forget It Ever Happened’ list.</p>
<p>“Thanks buddy,” he says, and then he swipes a drink off a floating tray and downs it in one gulp. (It turns out to be nonalcoholic, but it’s so high in sugar content that it actually slows Lance down, and he has an uncanny concentration for the rest of the night. Unfortunately, that leads to him going over the night’s events in horrid detail, again and again and again…)</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s several nights later, at Neither-Of-Us-Should-Be-Awake-O’clock, when Keith says it. Or thinks it, rather.</p>
<p>They’d been having a long conversation, because neither of them had been able to sleep, and it’s at times like these when you’re almost drunk with exhaustion that the most truths come out. It’s also probably not helped by the fact that they’re playing truth or dare.</p>
<p>And maybe Lance was a bit of a dick for asking it — <em>are you a virgin? </em>— but he was just curious. And he had a bit of an inkling, anyway. He just wanted to know.</p>
<p>And then, <em>Yes,</em> Keith thinks, the thought somehow quieter than usual. Shy. Embarrassed.</p>
<p>Lance lays deathly still. He just — he didn’t need that image in his brain, even though he’s the one who asked for it. He’s definitely thought about Keith inappropriately far too many times, and knowing that he’s a virgin is <em>not</em> helping.</p>
<p><em>I lost mine after we left Earth,</em> Lance tells him. <em>Just a forewarning: some alien sex is terrifying.</em></p>
<p>Lance can feel Keith’s amusement over the link.</p>
<p>
  <em>It felt… intense. When you and that girl—</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Excuse me, I thought we forgot about that particular event?</em>
</p>
<p><em>Yeah, whatever, </em>Keith says.<em> Is it always like that?</em></p>
<p><em>Nah, </em>Lance says<em>. It’s not always like that. Sometimes it’s really chill. But I don’t know what it’s like with a guy.</em></p>
<p><em>Me neither,</em> Keith jokes, and Lance laughs out loud. He flops over, pressing his face into his pillow and closing his eyes. He has way, way too many thoughts.</p>
<p><em>Goodnight, Keith,</em> he says.</p>
<p><em>Yeah, goodnight,</em> Keith answers. Except neither of them fall asleep for a while, and they can feel it through the mind-link. Lance can’t help wondering what he’s thinking about. Wondering if he’s thinking the same things.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lance can’t tell if it’s an accident, when it happens. Like, there was all that sex talk, which probably stirred something between them. And the fact that their thoughts are never 100% shielded from one another, so little impressions are always slipping through. Just a hint of endearment, a touch of affection. That couldn’t have helped either.</p>
<p>Although, what probably helped the least was the fact that Keith almost died.</p>
<p>It was just a regular mission. A trip to a planet that had reached out that they’d now be recruiting into the coalition. Maybe the fact that Lance had ended up mind-linked on the last recruiting mission they’d done should’ve been a hint that there was nothing really <em>regular</em> about these kinds of things — in fact, none of this was ever regular, really. They live in space, for fuck’s sake.</p>
<p>But still, Lance hadn’t been worried. None of them had been. It’d just been load up, land, and talk politics.</p>
<p>Keith must’ve said or done something wrong. Something incredibly offensive to that planet’s people. Because at one moment, everything was going fine. They were talking about boring logistics like what would be expected of them come actual, planned attacks on the Galra, and what they could expect from Voltron in return, and then—</p>
<p>Well, a murmuring had started up. It’d gotten louder and louder, clearly angry in origin, and then the members of Voltron were being shunted off to the side as everyone gathered around the center of the room. Or, Lance had <em>thought</em> the members of Voltron were being shunted off to the side. In all actuality, it’d been all of them except Keith, pushed back and away to keep them from defending him as the floor opened up under his feet and sent him falling into a monster-inhabited pit.</p>
<p>“What’s going on?!” Hunk had demanded.</p>
<p>“Where’s Keith?” Shiro had said, looking over their heads in every direction.</p>
<p>But Lance had already been fighting tooth and nail against the aliens holding him back, struggling to push through the crowd, to get to Keith, who was—</p>
<p><em>There’s something down here,</em> Keith had said, his voice loud in Lance’s mind. It’d drowned out all other noise, the distinct note of fear practically paralyzing Lance.</p>
<p><em>Where are you?!</em> Lance had demanded. <em>I’ll get you, hold on!</em></p>
<p>And then Keith had gone quiet. No distinct thoughts had come through, just sharp jolts of fear, the rush of adrenaline — occasional grunts of pain.</p>
<p>Lance had fought harder and harder against the people holding him back. By that point, the rest of the team had realized that something was incredibly wrong, and they’d been fighting just as hard. And then a white-hot pain had erupted through Lance’s middle, an agony that wasn’t his. Every nerve in his body screamed at him to stop, to collapse, to curl up in a ball and pass out, but his fear and panic were more pressing.</p>
<p>He can’t remember exactly what happened next, but as Hunk tells it, it was terrifying. He started shooting. Nothing lethal, but injuries bad enough to land people on the ground, to clear the path for Lance. It’d been him who’d jumped into that pit, him who’d slaughtered the creature, him who’d held Keith’s bloody corpse in his arms. At that point, he’d been convinced he was dead.</p>
<p>But he wasn’t. Keith managed to cling to life, and they managed to get him into a healing pod. It’d taken forever for anyone to convince Lance to leave his side. It was Shiro who’d finally done it.</p>
<p>“I don’t think he’ll want to see you covered in his blood when he wakes up.”</p>
<p>Showered and clean, Lance had spent the next two days sitting right there at Keith’s side.</p>
<p>And now that Keith was out of the pod again, everyone’s spirits were high. It was another close-call, but Voltron was successful nonetheless, right?</p>
<p>Lance should just calm down and go back to his life like everyone else.</p>
<p>Except at night, crawling into his own bed, he couldn’t sleep. Fear gripped him. Nightmares haunted him, if he dared to close his eyes. And so he stayed awake and alert, ready to respond at a moment’s notice if Keith were to wake up from a nightmare of his own.</p>
<p>That’s how it’d been for the first couple nights, anyway. Keith had put an end to it quickly enough. Something about Lance’s exhaustion leaking into his own head, and how he could feel Lance’s worry anyway, so why not just come over here?</p>
<p>That’s right. For the third night now, Lance is sleeping in Keith’s bed. He doesn’t know if he’s overstaying his welcome, per se, but he has a feeling he’d know if Keith wanted him gone. Even if the past two morning they’d woken up tangled in each other’s limbs, having to awkwardly extricate themselves and refuse to acknowledge it in any way throughout the day.</p>
<p>The rest of the team still haven’t caught onto the fact that Lance hasn’t been sleeping in his own room, and he’s not about to tell them. Hell, he and Keith don’t even talk about it.</p>
<p>They go to their own rooms to shower and get ready for bed. Keith didn’t even have to ask if Lance was coming over tonight — he just showed up.</p>
<p>And now here they are, laying back to back, both awake and entirely aware of it. Or at least, Lance is. It’s pointless to try to pretend to be asleep, seeing as they can both feel the others’ consciousness alert and awake.</p>
<p>“Lance?” Keith says, and Lance’s eyes fly open.</p>
<p>It was like some sort of unspoken agreement, the last two nights. Any sort of conversation was done solely over the link. That way, it was almost like they were in their own rooms, only able to speak to one another if they’re doing it in their heads. It feels more real, talking out loud.</p>
<p>“Yeah?” Lance says, and he feels Keith roll over. He quickly follows suit.</p>
<p>He can just make Keith out in the dim lighting of the room. There’s a glow from the hallway seeping in through the cracks of the door. It lights Keith from behind, making the edges of his hair glow. He has one arm up under his head, and he looks so incredibly soft like this, freshly showered and curled up in bed.</p>
<p>He sleeps in that black t-shirt of his. And boxers. The first night, when Keith had practically strong-armed Lance into a sleepover in order to get him to actually sleep, Lance’s mouth had gone dry. Keith had stood in the open door to his room, his hair mussed and his eyes sleepy.</p>
<p>Lance doesn’t know if he’ll ever get used to the sight.</p>
<p>He probably shouldn’t. This shouldn’t become a regular thing. Lance needs to go back to his own room eventually, he knows that. But he just needs to stop dreaming about Keith bleeding out in his arms, first.</p>
<p>“Can I ask you something?” Keith says. His voice is soft. Lance would almost think he sounded shy, but he’s never heard Keith say anything with an ounce of timidness in his life. He marches headfirst into any situation, any conversation, with single-minded determination.</p>
<p>“Of course,” Lance says.</p>
<p>Keith takes a breath. Lance holds his.</p>
<p>“Do you have feelings for me?”</p>
<p>Panic erupts in Lance’s mind. For a second, he thinks it’s Keith’s, before he realizes it’s his own. He might not have even realized it if Keith hadn’t projected this sense of calm into Lance’s head, which instantly makes him more embarrassed.</p>
<p>God. He should go. Maybe Keith caught him staring at him, one of these last few nights. He’s probably felt uncomfortable. But he’s too polite for his own good, not wanting Lance to succumb to nightmares on his own.</p>
<p>“Um — I… I,” Lance manages, already pushing himself up with one elbow. His face feels like it’s on fire. If he could evaporate, he would. Just disappear into the air. Maybe cease to exist. What he wouldn’t give to be able to spontaneously combust…</p>
<p>Keith lays a hand on Lance’s arm, and it makes him freeze. He stops just like that, having pushed himself halfway up. He feels the urgent need to swallow, but the thought of doing so, of making any noise at all, makes him want to die even more.</p>
<p>“Dude, calm down,” Keith says, and somehow it works. “I’m only asking because I do. Have them for you, I mean. I don’t want to get my hopes up.”</p>
<p>And Lance’s insides explode again. In a good way, this time. Jesus Christ, if Keith’s not careful, he’s going to end up killing Lance.</p>
<p>Keith laughs, and Lance realizes he must’ve projected that thought. He collapses back against the bed and starts laughing too — he can’t help it. Keith’s hand is still on his arm, and Lance’s hand finds its way to Keith’s hip, and he’s so <em>warm</em>. Lance never would’ve guessed that he ran that hot.</p>
<p>“God, you’re so — you’re <em>so</em>—” Lance says, and then laughs again. His thumb is under Keith’s shirt. He can feel it every time Keith inhales.</p>
<p>“You still haven’t said whether you feel the same,” Keith points out, but his voice sounds light.</p>
<p>Lance scoffs. “Psh, oh no, not at all, no way. I’m above feelings, actually. Let me tell you, your hands do <em>nothing</em> for me.”</p>
<p>“You like my hands?” Keith says.</p>
<p>“Weren’t you listening? I said they do nothing. Nothing!”</p>
<p>Keith sees right through him, and Lance scoots in closer. He never would’ve imagined that he’d be allowed to be this close. Hell, him from just a few months ago wouldn’t even have admitted to <em>wanting</em> to be this close.</p>
<p>Lance slides his arm around to Keith’s back, and he shoves his hand further under his shirt. Keith’s just staring into his eyes, and they’re so full of adoration that Lance wants to squeeze him to his body and never let go. Instead, he tilts his chin forward and captures Keith’s lips with his own. Keith makes the cutest little sound of surprise, and then his eyes slip closed.</p>
<p>At first, it’s entirely careful. All slow, easy exploration, and Keith tentatively letting his hands venture toward Lance. By the time he’s toying with the hem of Lance’s shirt, Lance has snuck his thumb under the waistband of Keith’s boxers, just at the hip. Even still, Keith gives a full body shiver.</p>
<p>Their kiss heats up. Keith nips at Lance’s lip and Lance grins against his mouth. He decides to stop taking it easy on Keith, who starts making sounds that have Lance wanting to swallow him whole. He keeps gasping, his breath escaping him in little hitches, and Lance can’t help it — he rolls them over and pins Keith to the bed.</p>
<p>Keith’s neck tastes sweet, but the sounds he makes are even sweeter. His hand comes up and buries itself in Lance’s hair as if to keep him there, as Lance laves at the collar of his neck to the corner of his jaw to the soft skin behind his ear.</p>
<p>“We should go to bed,” Lance manages to mutter. “Otherwise you’re gonna have a lot more firsts tonight.”</p>
<p>“Don’t wanna go to bed,” Keith gasps, and then he arches up, pressing himself against Lance, who groans.</p>
<p>“You sure?” Lance pants. “You don’t want to like — talk about all this first?”</p>
<p>Keith shakes his head. “As long as you don’t try to pretend this never happened, I’m good.”</p>
<p>Lance chuckles. “Keith,” he says into his ear, and Keith stills, though his chest still moves quickly. “I’m never going to let you <em>forget</em> that this happened.”</p>
<p>Keith moans, and Lance decides that he’s done enough of a number on his neck to move on. He slides down his body, pushing his shirt up just to see more of him, before hooking his fingers into his waistband.</p>
<p>“Can I?”</p>
<p>“Please.”</p>
<p>Keith lifts up as Lance pulls down, and he’s propped up on his elbows and looking down at Lance with wide eyes as he lowers himself to his cock.</p>
<p>“You’ve never done this before,” Keith points out.</p>
<p>“I plan to imitate what’s been done to me,” Lance says, and that seems good enough for Keith. It certainly <em>sounds</em> good enough once Lance has the head of his cock in his mouth.</p>
<p>He takes it slow, for the most part, seeing as this is his first time doing this too. He thinks he’d feel more lost if he’d never had the same done to him, but his confidence grows the longer he does it, considering the sounds Keith’s making. His hand has found its way to Lance’s hair, not pushing or pulling, but just holding on in what seems like desperation.</p>
<p>Lance switches it up often enough, using his hands and his mouth until he has Keith writhing on the bed underneath him. Lance is so hard it hurts, and what little grinding he’s able to manage against Keith’s sheets isn’t really doing it for him anymore.</p>
<p>With a pop, he slides off of Keith and crawls up his body, slipping off his underwear before plopping onto him rather unceremoniously and capturing his mouth again.</p>
<p>“You’re so cute,” Lance tells him, now steadily grinding down on him. Keith keeps jerking up against him, obviously much closer and clearly trying not to push himself over the edge just yet.</p>
<p>“Think I’d rather be called hot in a moment like this,” Keith grunts.</p>
<p>“You are hot,” Lance says. “But you’re also adorable.”</p>
<p>Keith’s hair is sticking to his forehead with sweat, and his fingers are curled against Lance’s biceps, his legs spread as he continually arches against Lance. It’d be a crime to not admit that Keith is fucking sexy right now — always is, really — but the sheer amount of affection Lance feels for him is a little overwhelming. He’s just now realizing that he’s never had sex with someone that he’s actually cared about before.</p>
<p>“You’re ridiculous,” Keith pants, and Lance thinks he can probably feel how enamored Lance is by him. But he can feel the softness around Keith’s thoughts as well, so he’s a hypocrite. He can also feel how incredibly turned on he is, which is insane. It’s not like Lance has ever thought he was ugly — he’s picked up people well enough, out here in space — but it’s about a million times better, knowing that Keith is this attracted to him.</p>
<p>“I’m gonna make you come like this,” Lance tells him, and Keith groans, throwing his head back. His hair makes a halo around his head on the pillow underneath him, and Lance redoubles his efforts, grinding against Keith with purpose now.</p>
<p>It’s hot and slippery and wet, thanks to Lance’s saliva, and Keith is trembling beneath him. He stops holding back, thrusting up against Lance to give as good as he’s getting. Kissing is pointless, their lips sliding away from each other as they’re reduced to panting, and Lance goes back to sucking on Keith’s neck, which has Keith moaning low in his ear…</p>
<p>Keith comes first. His body jerks beneath Lance’s, and the way he sounds, the force of his grip on Lance — it’s all so different from what he’s used to, and yet so <em>good</em>, too. Just the thought of it — of this being <em>Keith</em> beneath him, of Keith coming against him — has him following in suit.</p>
<p>Afterwards, they lay there for a few minutes, catching their breaths and occasionally kissing lazily. Lance pushes Keith’s hair off his forehead, and Keith gives him this stupid, dopey grin that has his heart fluttering desperately.</p>
<p>“I’m obsessed with you,” Lance says, and Keith shoves him off of him, rolling his eyes even as his thoughts betray him. He rolls over to grab some tissues, and once they’ve successfully used them and thrown them on the floor to deal with later, Lance pulls Keith into him and hooks his chin over his shoulder.</p>
<p>“You’re not gonna brag about this to the team, are you?” Keith asks a few minutes later.</p>
<p>Lance snorts, tugging Keith a little more firmly into him. “Not until we officially come out to them,” he jokes. Keith elbows him in the stomach, but his whole body melts when Lance presses a kiss to his shoulder.</p>
<p>Lance sleeps much easier after that.</p>
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<p>Like many things in Lance’s life, the whole mind-link thing doesn’t come to a head in the way he would’ve expected it to.</p>
<p>Maybe that’s because he didn’t <em>expect</em> it to. He was kind of ignoring the fact that at some point, he and Keith should maybe-probably tell the rest of the team about what the hell had happened to them. (And he wasn’t talking about the fact that they were dating, though they should probably tell everyone about that too.)</p>
<p>But Keith was thinking about it. He thought it was in everyone’s best interest to know about their ability, seeing as it could prove useful on missions when communication was limited. Lance couldn’t help but agree, so it was with a sort of heavy heart that he called everyone to the rec room for a meeting. It’s just that it’s been kind of fun to have this secret little ability of theirs, and there’s still a part of him that’s a little bit afraid that Allura’s going to want to put an end to it for some reason.</p>
<p>Lance stands once everyone’s gathered, clearing his throat kind of awkwardly and looking around the room. Shiro and Allura are usually the only ones to call meetings, so this is already weird enough by itself. It gets infinitely weirder once Keith stands as well, murmuring something in Lance’s mind about moral support.</p>
<p>“Thank you everyone for coming,” Lance says, weirdly formal. Pidge snorts. Hunk shoots her a look. “We have something that we think everyone should know,” Lance continues.</p>
<p>Immediately, Hunk gapes. Allura looks politely interested — Shiro equally so. Coran’s the only one that looks sincerely neutral.</p>
<p>Lance opens his mouth. Pidge cuts him off before he can say anything.</p>
<p>“We already know you’re dating,” she says, and Lance’s words die in his throat.</p>
<p>“Uhhh,” he says, shooting Keith a look. Keith’s standing straighter than usual, his face pink, though he’s glaring extra viciously at Shiro, who seems very distracted by something on the other side of the room. “What?” Lance says weakly.</p>
<p>Pidge shrugs. “It’s obvious,” she says. “You haven’t slept in your room in weeks, for starters.”</p>
<p>“How did you—”</p>
<p>“And you two are always sneaking off together, these days.”</p>
<p>“We’re not—”</p>
<p>“And neither of you can keep those dopey, love-sick expressions off your faces when you look at each other.”</p>
<p>
  <em>“We don’t—”</em>
</p>
<p>“Plus, Keith told Shiro. Who told Allura. And I told Hunk, obviously.”</p>
<p>Keith coughs awkwardly. Shiro, by the looks of it, has gone deaf.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry,” Keith blurts immediately, turning to Lance. “I didn’t think he’d tell anyone, I just wanted him to know—”</p>
<p>“Keith, it’s okay,” Lance says, reaching for his hand. Keith melts in relief.</p>
<p>“You’re <em>dating</em>?” Coran blurts, evidently the only one who’d been left out of the loop.</p>
<p>“Um, yeah,” Lance says. “But that’s actually not what we were going to tell you?”</p>
<p>Now, Pidge does look surprised. Serves her right, for snooping and sharing their personal business.</p>
<p>“Keith and I have a mind-link. We can communicate without talking.”</p>
<p>This time, Hunk’s the only one who looks unsurprised. Lance shoots a grin at him, impressed by his secret-keeping abilities.</p>
<p>Everyone’s talking all at once, their words completely indistinguishable from each other, and Lance and Keith patiently wait for them to calm down before explaining anything. They end up telling everyone all about their accidental mind-linking and their decision not to tell anyone, followed by their accidental affinity for the newfound ability. And then, acquiescing to everyone’s demands, they go through several tests to prove that they can, in fact, communicate with their minds.</p>
<p>“Pterodactyl,” Lance says, walking back into the room for the sixth time, Keith having told everyone else the word he was thinking while Lance was gone.</p>
<p>“They could’ve discussed the words they’d use beforehand,” Pidge points out, for the first time in her life unwilling to believe information that would actually make a lot of recent events much more understandable.</p>
<p><em>I’m gonna shoot at you,</em> Lance tells Keith, well past his threshold of being disbelieved. Keith agrees willingly enough, and without warning, Lance pulls out his bayard to shoot Keith, who dodges just in time.</p>
<p>Obviously, he gets reprimanded, Allura saying he could’ve hurt someone and Pidge claiming that Keith just has good instincts (Keith smirks cockily, and Lance shoots at him again), but eventually, they get everyone to believe them. And, thank God, Allura doesn’t even suggest trying to get rid of their mind-link. Plus, having everyone know about their relationship, only for it to be immediately usurped by their supposed-super power, made it so much less of a big deal. They barely even get teased for it.</p>
<p>Key word: Barely. They’re definitely still at liberty of <em>some</em> teasing.</p>
<p>Still, it’s not so bad. Lance can barely even fathom how upset he was about the mind-link at first, considering the developments it led to.</p>
<p><em>What a sap,</em> Keith thinks in his mind, and Lance rolls over in their bed to suffocate Keith with a pillow. Keith lets out a shout of laughter before it’s muffled, and then they’re wrestling, yelling and laughing as Keith somehow ends with the upper hand, like always.</p>
<p>“I hate you,” Lance pants, laying on his back on the floor and looking up at Keith, whose hair is an absolute mess, his cheeks flushed and his eyes gleaming.</p>
<p>“You love me,” Keith counters, now holding the pillow threateningly. Lance figures he’s seconds away from being suffocated himself.</p>
<p><em>I do,</em> Lance says, and he sees a mere second of surprise and joy on Keith’s face before a pillow’s slammed over his eyes. He reaches out to jab his fingers into his boyfriend’s stomach, not caring that he can’t see his expression. He can feel it just the same.</p>
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